The Belmont Stakes field is crystallizing and we still have several days before the cast becomes etched in stone. In these final few days leading up to the Belmont Stakes trainers will just be trying to keep their horses happy going into the third leg of the Triple Crown.
There will be some that are missing in action as the Kentucky Derby winner Always Dreaming and the Preakness Stakes winner Cloud Computing will skip the Belmont.
This makes the Belmont Stakes field not only a bit more wide-open but interesting in that all of these horses have things to prove.
One that will join the Belmont Stakes field is J Boys Echo. The Dale Romans trainee didn’t get the best of trips in the Kentucky Derby and he has a right to improve. On May 27, the colt kept his engine running. He breezed five furlongs in 1:00 4/5 at Churchill Downs and that should have him back on his toes. In the Derby, he was mugged out of the gate and that just took the steam out of him. He has been looking good in the mornings since that race and his connections think he is worthy of another chance at the best in his generation. One thing he has going for him is the company he has been keeping. He beat Cloud Computing by over three lengths in the Gotham and we all know that that rival is capable of under the right circumstances.
Todd Pletcher has a pair under consideration to join the Belmont Stakes field. They are Tapwrit and Patch.
Tapwrit, who won the Tampa Bay Derby and was sixth in the Kentucky Derby. worked five furlongs in 1:02.25 May 27 under his regular jockey Jose Ortiz. Maybe more importantly, the workout came when he drilled in company with graded stakes winner Far From Over. That runner has talent and when horses work together, it keeps the competitive edge alive. Far From Over has only lost once in his career and he had an excuse that day.
After skipping the Preakness, Tapwrit should be ready to run a strong final leg of the Triple Crown. Similar tactics worked well in recent years for other Pletcher trained horses. Both Palace Malice and Destin used a similar race sequence and ran big in the Belmont Stakes.
Patch worked with his regular rider John Velazquez and was caught in :50.24 for four furlongs. The trainer was somewhat pleased with the drills, Pletcher: “I thought Tapwrit worked well. He’s not an overzealous workhorse but we got a good solid five-eighths into him on what I’d describe as a relatively slow training track. I thought it served its purpose and he seemed to work as he normally does. Patch worked fine. Neither horse are ones that overachieve in the mornings but they have that solid, grinding style that could suit the Belmont. I thought Tapwrit ran great in the Derby. Everyone talked about the trouble at the start for Classic Empire but Tapwrit
was the one that got clobbered first and it was a chain reaction from there.”
Tapwrit will be in the Belmont Stakes field but Patch is still on the fence.
Classic Empire should be the one to beat if he joins the Belmont Stakes field. He finished fourth despite an awful trip in the Kentucky Derby and ran took good to lose when collared late in the Preakness.
Lookin at Lee runs his race every time but he has yet to win. The thing he may enjoy is the mile and a half distance of the Belmont Stakes but he still has to prove he can find that killer instinct. His best chance will be if a speed duel somehow develops and the leaders fade into the sunset.
Those that were big fans of the Sopranos television show may have a vehicle if Irish War Cry is in the Belmont Stakes field. The New Jersey-bred star won his first two starts at Laurel and is sire Curlin was a two-time Horse of the Year. On his best day, Irish War Cry could bring out the guns and runs huge on June 10.
The way horses finish at times can be confusing. Just because a horse finishes strong in a race doesn’t necessarily mean he will improve with more real estate. Senior Investment came home well in the Preakness. He went from seventh to third in the final 100 yards. He is trained by Kenny McPeek and the trainer knows what to do with a good horse. With that said, would still tread lightly with this runner.
The wild card in the Belmont Stakes field could very well be Epicharis. This runner has been pointed for the Belmont Stakes and his only poor effort came in the UAE Derby. The grandson of Sunday Silence has the speed to be on the lead early, and might just have the class to compete all the way around.
Gormley could be a bit of a phony. His win in the Santa Anita Derby was tainted as it was the slowest SA Derby since 1957.
Twisted Tom is in the good hands of Chad Brown. This runner has talent and it would be some kind of a coup for Brown to win Triple Crown races with different horses.
Conquest Mo Money threw in a clinker in the Preakness. He was expected to be forwardly placed but he broke a bit slowly from the far outside post, and was never comfortable. Still, the racer kept trying and with a more forwardly-placed position early in the Belmont Stakes, he could make a serious challenge for all the money.
Multiplier was solid in the Illinois Derby and at least he finished okay in the Preakness.
If Meantime is in the Belmont Stakes field, his backers had better hope the other speed doesn’t show up. Another that could be overmatched on Belmont Stakes Day is True Timber. This runner picks up checks but he just doesn’t like to get the ink on the contract and close the deal.
Don’t be shocked if the Belmont Stakes field swells before it is all said and done. If connections think they can beat Classic Empire, then they can build a case for a huge effort.
